Multilingualism in catalan secondary schools: an exploration of language practices and challenges

Abstract

This article summarizes some of the results of an ethnographic research project investigating the language practices, attitudes and ideologies of secondary school students of immigrant origin in Catalonia. It identifies some of the educational and linguistic challenges that the migration experience as well as societal and individual bilingualism pose for such students. In sum, the study points at the development of flexible translingual practices, pragmatic ideological standpoints and the need to foster educational practices that value the students’ multilingual abilities.